Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 1339
Submitted: August 4, 2015 at 2:56:15 PM
First Name: Simon
Last Name: Bussiere
Student Number: 10013247
Email: 0smb8@queensu.ca
Degree Program: BA Economics
Plan: BAH Economics
Level of Study: 2
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Waive the requirement to withdraw for a minimum of three years
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: To whom it may concern,
I¿¿m writing this letter in order to appeal the decision requiring me to withdraw from Queen¿¿s University for a minimum of three years. The reason for my appeal is due to an extenuating circumstance, which directly affected my academic performance.
Soon after the beginning of the Fall semester, my family suffered a traumatic event on October 16th 2014 with the sudden passing of my great-grandmother. Her passing was the first death I¿¿ve ever had to go through in my family, which made it very difficult to deal with and get through emotionally. The pain brought on by her death unfortunately ended up triggering a significant loss of focus towards my studies and therefore severely damaged my academic performance throughout the year.
My great-grandmother was always somebody that I looked up to in my life and that I was very close with throughout my childhood and her sudden passing brought about a very difficult and strenuous psychological challenge. As mentioned above, this directly affected my abilities to perform adequately in my classes due to the emotional disarray I was feeling.
That being said, her passing greatly affected my academic performance in the manner that I found it immensely difficult to keep focus when I was in my lecture halls, when I would be studying or when I would be working on my assignments. I was continuously overwhelmed by grief and sorrow. This would completely crowd my mind which lead to a depressive mindset and because of this my academic performance ended up being brought to shambles. Her passing utterly derailed the focus and drive I initially had coming into the new school year.
With that in mind, I had initially thought after her passing that I would be able to fight the pain and the mourning on my own and push through the difficult time but it wasn¿¿t until after the end of the first semester that I realized how much my grieving over the loss of my great-grandmother had affected my abilities to learn the course material and my abilities to actually focus on my courses.
I then resorted to consulting with my family physician for his professional expertise on the matter. I began being in contact with him on a consistent basis in order to help with the issues I was facing with my studies in order to finish the school year on a strong note. Unfortunately, the recovery process was longer than anticipated and therefore my entire academic school year was significantly shattered.
Nonetheless, I¿¿ve been able to realize that my poor academic standing throughout the past school year has not been a reflection of my true capabilities as a student but rather the terrible timing of a traumatic event in my life, which drastically affected those capabilities.
Since the end of the school year I¿¿ve been able to properly accept the passing of my dear great-grandmother and being back with my family for the summer has also properly allowed me to bounce back and come out of this situation as a stronger person. If my appeal is granted I know that I will be able to go back to Queen¿¿s not only as a much better student but also as a far stronger individual.
I¿¿m writing this letter in order to appeal the decision requiring me to withdraw from Queen¿¿s University for a minimum of three years. The reason for my appeal is due to an extenuating circumstance, which directly affected my academic performance.
Soon after the beginning of the Fall semester, my family suffered a traumatic event on October 16th 2014 with the sudden passing of my great-grandmother. Her passing was the first death I¿¿ve ever had to go through in my family, which made it very difficult to deal with and get through emotionally. The pain brought on by her death unfortunately ended up triggering a significant loss of focus towards my studies and therefore severely damaged my academic performance throughout the year.
My great-grandmother was always somebody that I looked up to in my life and that I was very close with throughout my childhood and her sudden passing brought about a very difficult and strenuous psychological challenge. As mentioned above, this directly affected my abilities to perform adequately in my classes due to the emotional disarray I was feeling.
That being said, her passing greatly affected my academic performance in the manner that I found it immensely difficult to keep focus when I was in my lecture halls, when I would be studying or when I would be working on my assignments. I was continuously overwhelmed by grief and sorrow. This would completely crowd my mind which lead to a depressive mindset and because of this my academic performance ended up being brought to shambles. Her passing utterly derailed the focus and drive I initially had coming into the new school year.
With that in mind, I had initially thought after her passing that I would be able to fight the pain and the mourning on my own and push through the difficult time but it wasn¿¿t until after the end of the first semester that I realized how much my grieving over the loss of my great-grandmother had affected my abilities to learn the course material and my abilities to actually focus on my courses.
I then resorted to consulting with my family physician for his professional expertise on the matter. I began being in contact with him on a consistent basis in order to help with the issues I was facing with my studies in order to finish the school year on a strong note. Unfortunately, the recovery process was longer than anticipated and therefore my entire academic school year was significantly shattered.
Nonetheless, I¿¿ve been able to realize that my poor academic standing throughout the past school year has not been a reflection of my true capabilities as a student but rather the terrible timing of a traumatic event in my life, which drastically affected those capabilities.
Since the end of the school year I¿¿ve been able to properly accept the passing of my dear great-grandmother and being back with my family for the summer has also properly allowed me to bounce back and come out of this situation as a stronger person. If my appeal is granted I know that I will be able to go back to Queen¿¿s not only as a much better student but also as a far stronger individual.
Academic Plan
Academic Plan: Upon my academic appeal being accepted, my future academic plan will be as follows:
I plan on continuing within the Department of Economics per my return.
Due to the fact that my extenuating circumstance caused me to perform poorly academically in the courses I was enrolled in, I plan on retaking some of the core courses that are essential for obtaining my degree.
My failure to perform in my classes was not due to a course load that was too demanding or to course material which was too difficult but rather due to the fact the my overall mindset was completely shattered by the loss of a loved one.
Nonetheless, I also plan on seeking regular consultations with my professors as well as my teaching assistants which I truly believe will help me stay on track for the academic excellence I plan on achieving at Queen¿¿s.
Furthermore, one of the main issues I dealt with while trying to overcome the grief I was feeling from the death of my great-grandmother was the fact that I felt depressive and alone throughout most of the school year. Thankfully enough, towards the end of the winter semester of 2015, with the help of my family physician and as well as my immediate family, I was able to recuperate myself and pick myself back up out of the stage of grief. Because of this I was also able to reach out to fellow classmates and friends who were also able to help me get through this difficult time in my life.
That being said, I know that with this strong support system that I have behind me that I¿¿ll be able to be successful in my academic pursuit come September.
Respectively, my academic plan, which I have built, goes even further than completing my undergraduate degree at Queen¿¿s. Upon my return to school I plan on making sure my grade point average is high enough so that I am able to either further my studies into a graduate program within the department of Economics or a graduate program within the department of Global Development Studies.
Ultimately, after completing of one these graduate programs my future goal will be to return to Africa where I did volunteer work in Ghana for 4 months during the summer of 2014. My goal with returning to Ghana will be to help develop the economic state of the poor and rural regions of the country.
With that in mind, although my academic plan here goes far beyond the completion of my undergraduate degree here at Queen¿¿s University, the completion of this is what I desire the most and it is essential for my appeal to be granted in order for this plan to come to fruition.
I plan on continuing within the Department of Economics per my return.
Due to the fact that my extenuating circumstance caused me to perform poorly academically in the courses I was enrolled in, I plan on retaking some of the core courses that are essential for obtaining my degree.
My failure to perform in my classes was not due to a course load that was too demanding or to course material which was too difficult but rather due to the fact the my overall mindset was completely shattered by the loss of a loved one.
Nonetheless, I also plan on seeking regular consultations with my professors as well as my teaching assistants which I truly believe will help me stay on track for the academic excellence I plan on achieving at Queen¿¿s.
Furthermore, one of the main issues I dealt with while trying to overcome the grief I was feeling from the death of my great-grandmother was the fact that I felt depressive and alone throughout most of the school year. Thankfully enough, towards the end of the winter semester of 2015, with the help of my family physician and as well as my immediate family, I was able to recuperate myself and pick myself back up out of the stage of grief. Because of this I was also able to reach out to fellow classmates and friends who were also able to help me get through this difficult time in my life.
That being said, I know that with this strong support system that I have behind me that I¿¿ll be able to be successful in my academic pursuit come September.
Respectively, my academic plan, which I have built, goes even further than completing my undergraduate degree at Queen¿¿s. Upon my return to school I plan on making sure my grade point average is high enough so that I am able to either further my studies into a graduate program within the department of Economics or a graduate program within the department of Global Development Studies.
Ultimately, after completing of one these graduate programs my future goal will be to return to Africa where I did volunteer work in Ghana for 4 months during the summer of 2014. My goal with returning to Ghana will be to help develop the economic state of the poor and rural regions of the country.
With that in mind, although my academic plan here goes far beyond the completion of my undergraduate degree here at Queen¿¿s University, the completion of this is what I desire the most and it is essential for my appeal to be granted in order for this plan to come to fruition.
Documentation
Professional Letter Detail: NO DOC